Vol. 72/No. 47      December 1, 2008

The Sexual and Reproductive Health law, which allows women to have an abortion during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, passed the Senate November 11 by a vote of 17 out of 30.

A week earlier, the Chamber of Representatives passed the bill by a one-vote margin.

Catholic bishops in Uruguay threatened to excommunicate any legislator who voted for the bill. About 47 percent of the population is Catholic.

In Uruguay abortion is illegal, although not punishable in cases of rape or when the mother’s life is in danger. President Vázquez, a longtime leader of the Socialist Party, made clear as far back as 2005 when he was elected president on the Broad Front ticket that he supports a total ban on abortions. The Broad Front is a coalition that includes, among others, the Socialist, Communist, and Christian Democratic parties.

Six Broad Front national legislators took part in the November 14 protest.

The Uruguayan president said he opposed the law on the basis that life begins at conception and that the law would bring more abortions, as it has in other countries where abortion laws were relaxed.

According to a recent poll in the country, 63 percent oppose the president’s veto.

Women’s rights activists in Uruguay have been fighting for abortion rights since the end of the military dictatorship in 1985, explained Lilian Abracinskas, executive coordinator of CNS Mujeres, the women’s rights coalition that organized the protest. “The demand began with the feminist organizations and has become a popular demand of the citizenry,” she told the Militant.

“We have been explaining that access to abortion is a question of public health,” Abracinskas said. “People with resources have access, while those without resources don’t. But they should have access so it can be done under sanitary conditions. It’s also a question of democracy and human rights, of reproductive and sexual rights.”

An estimated 33,000 abortions are performed each year in Uruguay, a country of less than 3.5 million, according to government figures. Other sources estimate the real figure is more than double that.

The General Assembly has 30 days to overturn the veto by a three-fifths majority vote—60 out of 99 in the Chamber of Representatives and 19 of 30 in the Senate.

Of all countries in South America, Central America, and the Caribbean, only Cuba allows abortions without restriction, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights. The government of Guyana allows unrestricted abortions for up to eight weeks. Most countries in the region allow abortion only in cases of rape or when the mother’s life is in danger.

The governments of Chile, El Salvador, and Nicaragua recently made abortion a punishable crime in all cases, including when necessary to save the mother’s life. Two other countries in the region, Haiti and Honduras, have had total bans on abortion for some time.  
 
 
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